Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. held their annual Fall Festival 2013 on Saturday October 26th from 10am until 1pm and there was a very good turn out.  Some of the activities were as follows:  Pumpkin Painting, Fortune Telling, Hay Ride, Cupcake Walk, Trick-or-Treating at Uptown Businesses, Games with Prizes, Story Telling 10:45AM and 11:15AM, Partnership for Children had free books, Safekids had free reflective bracelets and Costume Contest at Noon.

Brook Crider was chairperson for the Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. Fall Festival 2013 and she asked if I would take some pictures for her and how can you say no to Brook; she could sell an Eskimo a Deep Freezer with no power hook-up..........grin if you must!

It was very cold this morning with the temperature hovering around 26 degrees F. setting a new record at Charlotte Douglas International Airport,  NC with 27 degrees F. and was 40 degrees around mid-day here and cold for this time of the year.

I meandered around with camera in hand taking candid pictures of the various activities and everyone was having an excellent time.  It is great to see the young children having so much fun and brought back memories from my youth of the activities such as hay rides, apple bobbing, wiener roasts and trick-or-treating from house to house when things were much more innocent and pure or at least it seemed that way.  No one was in fear of contaminated treats and candies being given out or any type of violence although there occasionally might be some random vandalism by those destined to become wards of the State.  The highlight was at nightfall with multitudes walking  the uptown streets showing off their consumes, cruising the square and having great clean wholesome fun.  Large fireworks  such as the TNTs and M60s were commonly exploded but are no longer legal but they sure made a horrific loud bang and used unsafely could lead to some serious injuries which accounted for their ultimate demise.

It was wonderful to see some of the older downtown historic buildings; e.g., Belk's and the Court House take on new life with their current make over and below a few pictures giving tribute to them as well.  Enough of my rambling and going back in time.......will add pixs taken.  I apologize for some of the pictures because of the sun angle but could not avoid the mixed shadows due to the time of the day.  Pix of the hay ride:

Fortune telling

Picture of the majestic Anson County Court House after extensive exterior cleaning and renovation of which looks brand new!   Many decades ago when John Ingold aka "Hillbilly John" was the WADE radio station chief engineer, bottle washer and announcer, he was reported to have said over one of his early morning radio shows  "that it was so cold that morning that the soldier standing in front of the Court House had put his hands in his pockets to keep warm"...........grin if you must!

Click on the below thumbnail pixs taken for a larger screen view and you just might see yourself in front of Bill aka Mickey Porter's camera:

A few pixs of uptown/downtown buildings.  The ole B C Moore & Sons  bldg. now the Anson County Government Center::

Another view of the Anson County Court House circa 1912 which has nobility, style and class, whereas newer construction techniques are more mundane and ordinary with form following function.  Check the jail and newer court house for comparison.

Below memorial of those that gave the ultimate sacrifice that all of us can enjoy our Freedom today!

Below, pix of the U.S. Post Office in the background

I believe I captured digital images of all of the displays and there were many entries in the Costume Contest that was broken down into age group categories.  There were some very creative made from scratch costumes aka home made and all either "store bought" or custom were great! 

The stage is on the lot that was once occupied by The Fox and Lyon Company owned by Robert P. Lyon in 1908 after graduating from the Atlanta School of Pharmacy.  It was later operated by Risden A. Lyon until he sold out to William C. Bias, who had taken over the Parson's Drug Company across the street.  In the basement of the building was Jim Grave's Barber Shop back in the 1930s and many local barbers including  Shine James, Doss Heavner, J. Huneycutt, Grant Hinson, etc. got their start there and many later moved into the basement barbershop on the corner of S. Rutherford Street and West Wade Street and/or moved into their own businesses.  The building burned to the ground in the early 1980s if memory is correct.  I have pictures taken of the fire at night somewhere in my helter skelter filing system.

I remember going upstairs to have a quick snack in the Lyon's Den and Ms. Ruth Crawford worked many years for Risden Lyon which seems like only yesterday..............time certainly does not wait on anyone or anything! 

Below pix of the stage and judging area for the Costume Contest with Sharolyn Carpenter of the Wadesboro Arts Council the MC for this event::

Click on the thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view:

My last picture of the day is of Kathy Crider.  Check that beautiful smile out!

I had a tremendous amount of fun today and got a chance to talk with many ole friends and toured James Price's Place - Antiques and Pottery store of which he has a humongous amount of merchandise packed in there. 

This Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. Fall Festival 2013 was certainly a success and please give the sponsors of this event your support and thanks for donating their time and resources to make it happen.

In closing, Two of the Greatest Ships that ever sailed, Friendship and Fellowship.

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter 10-26-13.